Week of March 3rd

The students began studying ancient Greece this week.  We have discussed what life was like, and now they are each researching a topic.  Be sure to ask your child about what they are learning. 

For the spelling test each week, the students are asked to write 2 sentences using at least 8 or 9 spelling words (depending on the week).  Here are some of the sentences from this week's spelling test.  The students should be seeing connections with words and how they relate to better write sentences that make sense.  We also discuss what makes a run-on sentence and how to use conjunctions and/or commas to prevent that from happening. 

"I installed a massive house and made it a haven."

"To restore your furnishes from bad stenches, call 1-800-299-STINK and your furniture will have a nice, fragrant smell."

"The massive haven was under construction in the vicinity of my furnished house."

"I retaliated when my brother kicked my with his stenching feet by kicking him back, then I constructed an elaborate haven for me and furnished it with beanbags."

"The now clammy area installed a massive repellent to construct a fragrant smell to clean the area."

"My sister and I retaliate a lot and she tries to repel me with massive clammy spit."

"People restored furnishings from the elaborate construction."

"The house that was being constructed had a fragrant stench and had a massive living room installed in it that had to be renewed."

"You can retaliate and restore yourself in a haven by constructing yourself."

"I was smelling a fragrant flower when a dog started repelling, the dog had a stench but thankfully a nice person restored a previously constructed haven in the vicinity."

"Castles are clammy, massive and might have a stench but I'd like to repel that thought."

"The massive Fuffers, who lived in the vicinity, loved to restore and furnish so much."

"I went hiking where I saw massive trees, it was clammy and there were bugs that I repel."

Week of February 24th

We had a great field trip to the EMP this week.  The students enjoyed spending time looking at scale LEGO buildings of famous buildings around the world, playing instruments in the Sound Lab, exploring a section on myths and fantasy, making cool shadow monsters, and more! 

 

 

Our Dr. Seuss trivia team wins!  The 4th tie-breaking question?  Name as many full feature films based on Dr. Seuss's books!  We won with 4!

 

Week of February 18th

We had another great week of skits in the Stingray classroom!  The students were excited to tell the rest of the class about a pyramid tomb, how Romans prayed to the heads of dead men who were killed in battle, and the poisoning of a teacher who the Greeks felt lost a battle for them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
We are also well on our way to being simple machine engineers.  The students are working in groups of 3 to build a set of simple machines that will achieve a task.  Here the students explain what they are doing.

Group 1: We are trying to have Nerds candies hit the heart target by using a pulley, levers, inclined planes, and a catapult. 

 

 

 

Group 2: The purpose of our simple machines is to deliver a piece of candy via an airplane which rolls into dominoes, hitting a book, which will fling the candy into a bucket. 

 

 

 

 
Group 3: The purpose of our simple machine project to to deliver candy from one point to another point where a person awaits.  We will accomplish our goal by the following series of steps:
1. Slice a clementine in half.
2. The clementine will fall into a series of books.
3. The books will fall into a train.
4. The train slides down the inclined plane, knocking a marble down a slope of tracks.
5. The marble falls into a cup.
6. The cup falls. 
 

 

 

 
Group 4: The purpose of our simple machine is to swing a piece of candy to a random location.  There are 6 steps to accomplish this mission.  One step is to knock down dominoes.